Mother tongue and minority languages

The party programme explicitly requires that education in, on and about the national minority languages is expanded and that the opportunity to use one's own language is strengthened. The counter-proposal's demand that mother-tongue teaching and teaching in minority languages are strengthened rather than just reviewed is therefore the same in substance. The plan also requires a compensatory school that gives more support to those with worse preconditions.

• expand minority language teachingdecisive»de nationella minoritetsspråken samt de nationella minoriteternas« (party programme ↗)“the national minority languages and the national minorities'”
• right to one's own language»Möjligheten att använda det egna språket i kontakt« (party programme ↗)“The opportunity to use one's own language in contact”
• compensatory school»En skola som ger barn lika chanser är också kompensatorisk, det vill säga den förmår ge mer stöd till den som kommer från sämre förutsättningar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“A school that gives children equal chances is also compensatory, that is to say it is able to give more support to the one who comes from worse preconditions.”
• protect minorities' rights»Genom internationella avtal har Sverige nu förbundit sig att skydda« (party programme ↗)“Through international agreements Sweden has now committed itself to protect”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan commits to upholding and supporting national minorities' opportunities to preserve and develop their language and culture, which the counter-proposal's demand for strengthened minority language instruction directly serves. The plan also requires that all pupils reach the curriculum's goals and that knowledge's doors are opened for all to break class patterns, which speaks for mother-tongue instruction that strengthens school results.

• support for minority languagesdecisive»I detta ska också ingå att hävda och stödja nationella minoriteters möjligheter att behålla och utveckla det egna språket och kulturen.« (party programme ↗)“This shall also include upholding and supporting national minorities' opportunities to preserve and develop their own language and culture.”
• all pupils shall reach the goals»Alla elever ska ha nått läroplanens mål när de går ut grundskolan.« (party programme ↗)“All pupils shall have reached the curriculum's goals when leaving primary school.”
• knowledge breaks class patterns»Att öppna dörrarna till kunskap för alla är centralt för att bryta klassmönstren.« (party programme ↗)“Opening the doors to knowledge for all is central to breaking class patterns.”
• resources for disadvantaged schools»De mest utsatta skolorna och förskolorna måste få mer resurser.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The most disadvantaged schools and preschools must receive more resources.”

The party programme establishes that languages other than Swedish shall be seen as advantages and resources for student learning and that subject teaching in the mother tongue gives all students a chance to reach curriculum goals. The plan also wants to strengthen the rights of national minorities and the Sámi. Strengthening mother-tongue and minority-language teaching in line with research is therefore directly supported.

• mother tongue as resourcedecisive»Andra modersmål än svenska ska ses som fördelar« (party programme ↗)“Languages other than Swedish shall be seen as advantages”
• teaching in the mother tongue»Ämnesundervisning på modersmålet ger alla elever« (party programme ↗)“Subject teaching in the mother tongue gives all students”
• strengthened minority rights»stärka nationella minoriteters och urfolket samernas rättigheter och att Sverige ska förbinda sig att följa den internationella konventionen om urfolks rättigheter (ILO 169).« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen the rights of national minorities and the indigenous Sámi people and that Sweden shall commit to following the international convention on indigenous peoples' rights (ILO 169).”
• minority languages' position is strengthened»språk, måste respekteras och stärkas. Samerna« (party programme ↗)“language, must be respected and strengthened. The Sámi”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The election manifesto explicitly wants to strengthen minority protection and the status of minority languages, which is precisely what the counter-proposal demands for teaching. The party programme moreover emphasizes that school shall start from each child's needs, especially in early language learning. Strengthening mother tongue teaching in line with research thus serves both the status of languages and knowledge outcomes.

• strengthened status of minority languagesdecisive»Vi vill stärka bland annat äganderätten, diskrimineringsförbudet, minoritetsskyddet och minoritetsspråkens ställning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to strengthen, among others, property rights, the prohibition on discrimination, minority protection and the status of minority languages”
• child's needs in language learning»Det är viktigt att utgå från varje barns behov, inte minst för den tidiga språkinlärningen.« (party programme ↗)“It is important to start from each child's needs, especially for early language learning.”
• knowledge for participation»Alla barn har rätt att få de kunskaper som gör dem till delaktiga samhällsmedborgare.« (party programme ↗)“All children have the right to gain the knowledge that makes them participating citizens.”
• equivalent school»Du ska ha tillgång till en likvärdig skola i hela landet, med sikte på en utbildning och kunskapsresultat i världsklass.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“You shall have access to an equivalent school throughout the country, with a view to education and knowledge outcomes in world class.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The party programme establishes that pupils with a mother tongue other than Swedish shall be able to develop and deepen their knowledge in their mother tongue and that school shall give all pupils knowledge of indigenous peoples, national minorities and minority languages. The counter-proposal's demands for strengthened mother-tongue teaching and teaching in national minority languages are thus the plan's own line. The election manifesto also establishes that schools with orientation towards the legally protected national minorities shall always be able to exist.

• right to mother-tongue teachingdecisive»Elever med annat modersmål än svenska ska kunna utveckla och fördjupa sina kunskaper i modersmålet.« (party programme ↗)“Pupils with a mother tongue other than Swedish shall be able to develop and deepen their knowledge in their mother tongue.”
• knowledge of minorities»Skolan ska ge alla elever kunskap om Sveriges urfolk,« (party programme ↗)“School shall give all pupils knowledge of Sweden's indigenous peoples,”
• minority schools cherished»Skolor med inriktning mot de lagskyddade nationella minoriteterna ska alltid kunna finnas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Schools with orientation towards the legally protected national minorities shall always be able to exist.”
• strengthened minority languages»Individens möjligheter att använda minoritetsspråk i kontakten med myndigheter« (party programme ↗)“The individual's opportunities to use minority languages in contact with authorities”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan explicitly states that school children should be given the opportunity for mother-tongue instruction, both for maintaining contact with their parents' cultural identity and to broaden the language competence in Sweden. It also wants to ensure minority languages a strong position through legislation. The counter-proposal's demand for strengthened mother-tongue and minority language instruction is thus the plan's own line.

• mother-tongue instruction for school childrendecisive»Skolbarn ska ges möjlighet till modersmålsundervisning för att kunna bibehålla god kontakt med sina« (party programme ↗)“School children should be given the opportunity for mother-tongue instruction in order to maintain good contact with their”
• strong position for minority languages»att göra detta är att tillförsäkra minoritetsspråken en« (party programme ↗)“to do this is to ensure minority languages a”
• support for minorities' own efforts»människor med annan kulturell bakgrund än den svenska. Det är en central offentlig uppgift att stödja minoriteters egna insatser för att behålla och vidareutveckla« (party programme ↗)“people with a different cultural background than the Swedish. It is a central public task to support minorities' own efforts to maintain and further develop”
• broader language competence»språkliga kompetensen i Sverige.« (party programme ↗)“language competence in Sweden.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan's language policy in schools concerns Swedish: all children should learn good Swedish early, and the quality of teaching and the Swedish language are singled out as the single most important measures against segregation. Teaching time should go to measurable factual knowledge and mandatory language preschool for children with inadequate language development. Strengthening mother tongue and minority language education instead does not follow from the plan.

• the Swedish language breaks segregationdecisive»De enskilt viktigaste åtgärderna för att bryta segregationen handlar om kvaliteten i undervisningen och det svenska språket.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The single most important measures to break segregation concern the quality of teaching and the Swedish language.”
• Swedish early for all children»Där alla barn får lära sig bra svenska tidigt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Where all children learn good Swedish early.”
• mandatory language preschool»Införa obligatorisk språkförskola för barn som visar en bristande språkutveckling« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce mandatory language preschool for children showing inadequate language development”
• knowledge focus in the curriculum»Fokusera på mätbara faktakunskaper, med inspiration från Finlands läroplan« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Focus on measurable factual knowledge, inspired by Finland's curriculum”

The plan's decisive commitment is assimilation: support aimed at immigrants preserving and strengthening their original cultures and identities shall be discontinued, and activities in schools and childcare shall be conducted in Swedish. Strengthening mother tongue teaching therefore goes against the plan, even though national minorities according to the programme are exempted from assimilation efforts and given cultural autonomy. The committee's reasons that no change is needed are not addressed.

• discontinued support for original culturesdecisive»som syftar till att invandrare skall bevara och stärka sina ursprungliga kulturer och identiteter dras in.« (party programme ↗)“that aims at immigrants preserving and strengthening their original cultures and identities is discontinued.”
• activities in Swedish»Alla barn ska också ges möjlighet att bli en del av det svenska samhället och verksamheten ska därför bedrivas på svenska språket.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All children shall also be given the opportunity to become part of Swedish society and activities shall therefore be conducted in Swedish language.”
• Swedish language first»Prioritera svenska språket inom barnomsorgen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Prioritize Swedish language within childcare”
• autonomy for national minorities»ska de som grupper undantas från allmänna assimileringssträvanden och ges långtgående« (party programme ↗)“they as groups shall be exempt from general assimilation efforts and be given far-reaching”